Freedom of Religion and the State-Canonical Status of the Orthodox Church during the Period of the Ukrainian State of Hetman Pavlo Skoropadskyi

Abstract

The article analyses the state of affairs with the implementation of freedom of religion in the Ukrainian State of Hetman Pavlo Skoropadskyi in the context of the religious structure of the population. On the basis of the legal acts of the Ukrainian State, in particular, of a constitutional nature, and the directions of the Ministry of Confessions, it was established that the interests of religious minorities in the state were adequately provided for and met their basic needs for functioning, if their activities were not of a political nature. In particular, this is demonstrated by the example of large Christian non-Orthodox denominations (Catholicism, Greek Catholicism, evangelical denominations). It has been proven that Orthodoxy, professed by the majority of Ukrainians, was the state religion, which was reflected both in legislation and in the strategic cooperation of the Hetman government with the Church. It is emphasized that Hetman Pavlo Skoropadskyi played a decisive role in the position of interaction with the Orthodox Church and its development within the framework of the national cultural policy of the Ukrainian State, which was helped by the image of Hetman as a classical monarch from the point of view of the Orthodox clergy. It was noted that the priority issue for the authorities and Orthodox hierarchs was the canonical status of the Orthodox Church in Ukraine, which, to the satisfaction of both, established itself in autonomy, but could not rise to autocephaly due to the geopolitical situation and the general mood of Ukrainian believers. Hence, the establishment of the autonomous status of the Orthodox Church in Ukraine became a logical consequence of the activity of the All-Ukrainian Church Council, which acted in accordance with the canons, and therefore such a status of the Church could not be questioned.